Etymograph

English

fiber

Fiber comes from Old French fibre, from Latin fibra ‘fibre, filament’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- ‘to split’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeyd-1‘to split’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*fidber /*findber1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfibra2‘fibre, filament’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fibre2
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentfibre2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2008fiber2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin fibra
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English fiber
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, Joe Duffy, Concurrent Programming on Windows: “We've seen how to create a new fiber and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeyd-Wiktionary, Latin fibra‘to split’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*fidber /*findberWiktionary, Latin fibrauncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfibraWiktionary, English fiber‘fibre, filament’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fibreWiktionary, English fiber
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentfibreWiktionary, English fiber
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2008fiberWiktionary, English fiber. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, Joe Duffy, Concurrent Programming on Windows: “We've seen how to create a new fiber and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- ‘to split’

boat, bet, bite, bitter, bait, fission, feta, fissure, fissile, fettuccine, abet, 25 more

through French fibre

fibre

Today it means

noun A single elongated piece of a given material, roughly round in cross-section, often twisted with other fibers to form thread.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fiber”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin fibra. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- / fiber

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